There’s Still Hope For Medical Cannabis Patients In Washington State

By Kirk Ludden

Representatives in Olympia continue with politics as usual, listening to special interests and agencies that treat medical cannabis as if it has no medicinal properties. They are going against the voters by further restricting patients, and taking away their rights including proposing to drop patient possession limits once again, and breaking HIPPA laws by having a registry in the process with SB 5052.

The reason a person can not overdose on cannabis is because when there are high doses of THC in one’s system, the brain produces pregnenolone that inhibits it.1 The recreational user benefits from the use of cannabis because their depleted endocannabinoid system is being nourished with all the cannabinoids in the cannabis plant.2

Recreational use is “for profit”while medical use is “not-for-profit”. The Liquor Control Board is not a health care agency, and regulates “for profit” products. The LCB paid for a study to figure out the supply and demand numbers for the recreational use market3.

In a presentation last December, the LCB said that at their current proposed expanded canopy of 8.5 million they expect to capture 44 percent of the recreational market. With such a small portion of the recreational market captured, the LCB is not ready to handle the 17-year-old medical cannabis market in this state. Besides the fact that the LCB has court cases against them for ethics charges and the implementation of 502, there are 4,000 public released pages that show how they held private meetings to end medical cannabis.4

The hope for patients in this state is with Initiative Measure No. 1372. I-1372 being filed on January 6, while SB 5052 was prefiled on the 11th giving 1372 precedent over any bill they may pass and sign into law.

I-1372 would create the first cannabis for medical use board that would be made up of the state and the community that is totally transparent with a separate revenue from the state to remain revenue neutral. It also adds in other protections for patients that would not be done in the normal political process, like preventing the use of federal drug money against those compliant with the state law.

A grassroots movement is behind I-1372 that comes from a 2011 partially vetoed SB 5073, work done in the community, as well as input from patients. Described as a well balanced and fair piece of legislation, it is also what Americans for Safe Access call their “perfect legislative bill with its own board, own revenue and revenue neutral.” The 20-signature and 5-signature mail-in petitions are at the website www.cppwa.org.

Everyone is encouraged to contact their Representatives to share their thoughts and feelings about the current bill from State Senator Ann Rivers, SB 5052. If you have already shared with your Representatives, remind them of your position opposing 5052. Be respectful to them and their legislative assistants; your message will be better received, making it more possible to get positive results

Though not a “one issue” voter, given the overbearing tone of 5052, on several levels, have let my 3 Oly elected know that, put simply, their pass vote for 5052 assures their opponent gets my vote next opportunity. In my eyes, 5052 sets a dangerous precedence of state government control that goes well beyond cannabis issues.

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